Warner Bros.  announces this week that starting in May they will discontinue the release of HD DVDs and opt to go exclusively with Blu Ray technology to release titles in High Definition.

 To the average consumer, this isn’t that big of a deal.  Of course, the average consumer hasn’t had all that much time to truly choose the format he wants to go with when it comes to high definition.   In fact, in my area most people are still trying to figure out whether to go plasma or LCD.  Don’t even bring up DLP technology, it will just confuse everybody.

I have a real problem with studios choosing to definitively go one way or the other.  Especially Warner Bros.  Why? 

In the broad scope of things, I think that consumers should be given the chance to choose for themselves which technology they like better. 

On a more narrow scope, the fact is that Warner Bros. has it’s hand on so much of the entertaiment we enjoy that even with studios like Paramount choosing to go exclusively HD DVD, the pressure is going to be on studios to go ahead and go with Blu Ray. 

If you asked me honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me if money or kickbacks were changing hands somewhere even though it is denied by the corporations.  (I have just enough of a conspiracy theorist in me to not believe that at all though.)

So what does all of this mean for the geek?  Well, if you’ve bought an HD DVD player, get whatever WB titles you want on HD DVD before May.  Don’t expect this year’s big WB hits to be on HD DVD.  So that means don’t expect to set an HD DVD version of THE DARK KNIGHT next to BATMAN BEGINS on your DVD shelf.   In fact, you may want to start saving up for a Blu Ray player if for no other reason than it seems that Blu Ray may win this format war.  

If, like me, you’ve held out to see what’s gonna win out in the end, hang in there and let’s see.  The minute we go Blu Ray, though, there will probably be something else come out. 

Ultimately, I understand studios choosing exclusivity one way or the other.  It makes little financial sense to put out three different formats of something only to lose money when one format goes under.  It is sad though that the consumer once again has to be strung along by the big corporations. 

Howver, in an effort to not be negative, High Def is cool.  Kudos to all of the big studios for seeing the need to take video releases to next level yet again.  

Now, if they will just come off the 4 cents for the writers….

When I think superhero, I think Superman.  Period.  Also, I stand by my initial reaction to Superman Returns.  I loved it. 

Having said that, I think that Superman fans and superhero fans in general really hoped for a Superman movie that would blow us all away the same way BATMAN BEGINS did.  However,  what we got was  a remake of Richard Donner’s film from the seventies with a few updated special effects and some different plot points.  While Richard Donner’s film was THE film that defined superhero movies, as far as making the story as real as possible and not trying to be smarter than the source material, I think most fans thought that it was time for something new.   Well, Kalel1029 on YouTube gets it.  Check out his fan made trailer for a movie that he obviously wants to see, and now I do too.  He uses clips from other movies and audio from different Superman series to put together what is really an awesome video.   But, enough talk, check it out:

I want to say a big thank you to Micheal Cohen for providing the new look and logo for the site.  Michael heard the request on the podcast and responded pretty quickly.   I think it looks great and it’s a great way to start the new year with the site.  You can check out Michael’s art at arkwulf.com and . Make sure to check it out and tell other people about it so he can get some traffic and some business.

Before I get into the show description, I apologize that this took so long to get out.  I have 50 different reasons why, but let’s be honest, I wouldn’t accept the excuses so neither should you, the listener have to.  There are some things said that are a little dated.  Like “Merry Christmas”, “Happy New Year”, ”How about that light bulb, what a great invention.” etc.  But hopefully, you’ll enjoy it anyway. 

On this long overdue episode of the podcast, Derek from Starkville’s House of El joins me as we talk about everyone’s favorite villain, Heroes - “Villains,”  Infected villains, and the magnificent Dark Knight trailer.  This is a long one, so grab some left over egg nog, and left over turkey sandwiches and settle in for a long winter’s geek out session.

If you want to check out that Heroes teaser click here.

For that amazing Dark Knight trailer click here.

 

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